This Day in History: 16 February 1991
Bheki Mlangeni was a lawyer working for the African National Congress (ANC) in the 1990s. He and former police Captain Dirk Coetzee had worked together to expose the existence of a secret police unit based at Vlakplaas . The unit carried out assassinations of anti-apartheid activists. Coetzee himself was the first commander of the unit before he left the police force.
In 1989, Coetzee exposed the existence of the unit he once led. Fearing for his life, he fled to Zambia. When a package disguised as coming from Mlangeni failed to reach Coetzee in Zambia, it was sent back to “sender” (Mlangeni’s office). When Mlangeni opened the package to find a tape player, he took it home with him. As soon as he pressed play, after putting the earphones in his ears, there right earphone exploded. He died instantly, leaving his wife and young child. He was only 35.